Skied into the backcountry adjacent to Whitefish Mountain Resort. Our objectives were to assess storm slab instability and hunt for surface hoar and check reactivity. While traveling along a ridgeline we were able to remotely trigger a storm slab avalanche from about 15 feet away. The slide was about 8-10 inches deep and 30 feet wide. We also observed shooting cracks and collapsing initiated from the top of a ridge. We dug snow pits on east and southeast aspects and found large grained surface hoar. This layer exists about 1.5 to 2 feet from the surface (30-50 cm) and sits atop a melt-freeze crust.